Given the fact that even after a long while of [me] not making new ones, the PortalPeople still seem to be a cause for conversation and at times, my consternation. With that said I'd like to offer answers to questions I've been asked or I've seen floating around about these
annoying adorable little Photoshopped folk.
1. "What is a Portalperson?"A PortalPerson™, or "weeble" as
I now call em, is a blank-faced avatar image featured in the signature blocks of many people during the heyday of Civil Air Portal [.com].
"2. What's the deal with these things?"I created my first one believe it or not back in 2003 when I was an admin of the long gone capboard.com. I simply wanted a cool avatar and after a few barley-pops, the idea of dressing up a MSN messenger icon plonked itself right into my frontal cortex. Later in 2006, Nick McLarty of
here and from CadetStuff asked me if he could borrow the one I had in BDUs or something like that. I told him I'd do one better, and made an updated one in an USAF SF uniform for him. Next, I believe "MNWGPA" wanted one, so I did the same, while updating my own for myself.
Not-so-gradually, the trickle of requests turned into a deluge. Why they became popular and remain so today, I have no idea. Possibly because the
have nots always want to be like the
haves.
3. "Where can I find them?"Short answer: You won't. There is no longer a PortalPerson repository for the express purpose of showing them off. This is in part due to a willingness of some individuals to alter what I've made or pass off the work as their own. Of course, this
IS the Internet, and I am aware that those who really put their minds to it could find them. I'm just trying to keep the honest people, honest and protect my work.
4. "And why's that?"Well, for the simple fact that I made most of them for people who I am friends, or at least acquainted with over the years. They each have from anywhere between a half hour to two hours of work in them and are usually customized to the individual. I have made a lot of CAP-related graphics over the years, and never complained about people using it. Heck, I
encouraged it for the sake of officers helping each other. The PortalPeople are different in the fact that they are tokens of friendship to an individual, or they are direct representations of myself for use in my signatures. I'd hope that people over time will come to respect that.
5. "C'mon... it's the Internet, so they're fair game, right?"Wrong. Please reread bullet number four.
6. So, If I shouldn't take one meant for someone else, are there any that anybody could use?Yes. This one:
7. "But then other people would have the same one as me!"Correct. You're catching on.
Takes the fun out of them, doesn't it?8. "Do you sell them?"Never.
9. So, the BIG question then... "How do I get one for myself?"To truly have an original, stick around. Seeing people come online and ask about getting one when they have only a handful of posts is both amusing and discouraging at the same time. Stay awhile. Do something admirable. Help one another. While I have done several for friends, I have also done them just because I had great respect people who were going above and beyond in their CAP roles, and the Been-there-done-thats. Likewise, I've also done them for people who have simply been stand-up individuals on the forums I frequent. (Not just this one) In time, you just might find that I'm contacting you about creating yours.
10. "How do I get it to look all left-justified and pretty in my signature?"First,
please host it somewhere other than my website, so it doesn't eat up my bandwidth. Then, use this code:
[table][tr][td][img][b]URL OF IMAGE[/b][/img][/td]
[td]YOUR NAME AND OTHER TEXT --USE LINE BREAKS BEFORE TEXT TO MIDDLE JUSTIFY[/td][/tr]
[/table]11. "Does it bother you to see 'counterfeit' ones around?"It's a hard question to answer, but after a year of making them myself and seeing more knockoffs pop up than I would've imagined, I'm going to be upfront. It does.
I hate to be a jerk about it, but it begs the question,
Why would you blatantly create a knockoff of someone's work (and passion, at that) and parade it around in places you know they frequent? I simply cannot understand that one. I hope that in the future, those who have an original would choose to police the rest.
Thanks for reading.
Author